More than 40 science missions of NASA would be cancelled, as a result some of the greatest mysteries of the universe, such as the possibility of life on Mars or Venus, may never be solved, because of Trump’s proposed “extinction-level” cuts to NASA spending, scientists are warning. 

NASA’s scientific work would be gutted, with its budget cut almost in half, to $3.9bn a year. On May 31 Trump also withdrew his nomination of Jared Isaacman, a well-regarded science seeking astronaut, as NASA’s man in charge, leaving NASA leaderless.

However, the White House’s budget proposes a modest rise in spending on human space flight, and doubles down on the agency’s so-far successful experiment in handing off much of that work to the private sector. The proposal allocates more than $7 billion for the return to the moon and $1 billion for humans going to Mars, while slashing both planets’ planetary scientific missions.